By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com
HICKORY - Watauga's offense seemed to sputter against St. Stephens Friday night. Yet the Pioneers almost drove nearly the length of the field to steal a win away from St. Stephens.

Almost.

Instead, St. Stephens' defense held up in the final minute of the game and preserved a 16-13 victory in the final regular-season game. Watauga (6-5, 3-3 NWC) finds out Saturday where it will play in the first round of the playoffs.

Watauga was trying to put back-to-back wins over both Hickory teams in the final two weeks of the season. The Pioneers pounded Hickory 34-17 one week earlier, but struggled to build any consistency against St. Stephens (4-7, 2-4). Watauga's offense settled for just 216 yards in total offense, including just 68 yards passing.

"We just had too many mental mistakes, too many penalties," Watauga coach Tim Pruitt said. "You name it and we did it."

Yet all of that would not have mattered had the Pioneers been able to score on their final drive of the game. The Pioneers took over at their own 3-yard line, but quarterback Devan Corum was sacked for a safety, giving St. Stephens a 16-13 lead.

However, Watauga got a second chance at the ensuing free kick because of a St. Stephens offsides penalty on the Pioneers' first onside kick attempt. Clint Trivette's second try was recovered by Matt Scott, and the Pioneers took over at their own 38-yard line.

"Football is a crazy thing," Pruitt said. "That safety was probably a good play for us because it got us out of a hole."

Corum, with help from two 15-yard completions to Mo Gore, took the Pioneers to the St. Stephens 14-yard line. A low snap on second down left Watauga with a third-and-14 at the 18-yard line, where Corum nearly tossed a touchdown pass to Gore. However, Corum's pass sailed a little high and a little in front of Gore and fell incomplete.

Corum's fourth-down pass to Travis Oliver was incomplete, and St. Stephens took over with 19 seconds left.

Corum completed 7-of-16 passes, but connected on three of them in that final drive. St. Stephens quarterback Tanner Miller completed 17-of-38 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns to Parker Kersey.

Their first scoring pass, a two-yarder, capped the Indians' first scoring drive, one that went 53 yards and took 10 plays. It gave St. Stephens a 7-0 lead, but Watauga struck back in the second quarter with a 2-yard, fourth-down TD run by Logan Smith. That drive, which went 80 yards and took seven plays, included a 56-yard run by Smith that gave the Pioneers a first down at the St. Stephens 19-yard line.

Smith finished with 98 yards rushing on 12 carries. Corum added 40 yards on 21 carries, but was sacked four times for 28 yards in losses.

"I felt fortunate for it to be 7-7 at halftime," Pruit said. "They missed a couple of field goals and other opportunities. They had six chances in the red zone in the game and only scored on two., so I felt our defense played well."

The Watauga defense limited St. Stephens to just 55 rushing yards on 27 carries. The Indians also converted just 2-of-13 third downs, but Watauga's 3-of-11 third down conversions was not that much better.

Watauga actually took a 13-7 lead when Jake Gilliam blocked a punt and Baker Stanley returned it six yards for a touchdown with 10:12 left in the third quarter. St. Stephens eventually struck back with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Kersey with 1:37 left in the third.

St. Stephens 16, Watauga 13
Watauga    0 7 6 0 - 13
St. Stephens    7 0 7 2 - 16

Scoring summary
First quarter
SS-Kersey 2 pass from Miller (Cooper kick)
Second quarter
W-Smith 2 run (Parsons kick)
Third quarter
W-Stanley 6 return of blocked punt (Kick failed)
SS-Kersey 24 pass from Miller (Cooper kick)
Fourth quarter
SS-Safety, Corum tackled in end zone

        Watauga    St. Stephens
First downs    13        19
Rushes-yards    38-148        27-55
Passing yards    68        216
Passes        7-16-2        17-38-0
Total plays-yards    54-216    65-271
Punts-avg.    5-32.4        4-22.0
Penalties    9-84        13-74
Fumbles-lost    3-1        3-1

Individuals:
Rushing: Watauga-Smith 12-98, Corum 21-40, Rook 2-12, Stanley 1-5; St. Stephens-Sherrill 13-47, Shuford 1-6, Miller 11-32, Littlejohn 2-1.

Passing: Watauga-Corum 7-16-2 68; St. Stephens-Miller 17-37-0 216; Hoyle 0-1-0 0.

Receiving: Watauga-Gore 3-42, Oliver 2-17, Kavanaugh 1-5, Pineda 1-4; St, Stephens-Hoyle 7-90, Kersey 6-75, Ellis 1-27, Kersey 1-15.